I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to rain gutter systems and, more particularly, to a plastic rain gutter system having novel means for securing the rain gutter to a building.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Most buildings include rain gutters positioned underneath the edges of the roof of the building in order to collect and channel water passing down from the roof to downspouts connected to the gutters. Most of these rain gutters, in the past, have been metal and have been rigidly and permanently secured to a fascia board on the building by hammering nails through the rain gutter and into the fascia board.
These previously known rain gutters, however, have been disadvantageous in a number of different respects. First, they have been usually constructed of galvanized metal, and thus are both expensive to manufacture and, due to their weight, difficult to install. Moreover, these metal gutters require periodic painting in order to maintain an attractive appearance. The painting of the gutters and of the fascia board behind a gutter is a difficult and tedious task.
A still further disadvantage of these previously known rain gutters is that they are permanently secured to the house and thus are not easily removable. Removal is desirable not only to facilitate the painting of the fascia board behind the rain gutter but is also very advantageous in those climates where heavy snows occur during winter. Snow and ice accumulations in the rain gutter can damage the rain gutter but can also cause ice backup underneath the shingles on the roof of the building. Such ice backup can damage both the roof and the shingles. Removal of the rain gutter during winter eliminates this problem.
A still further disadvantage of the previously known rain gutters is that the gutter can be easily attached only to buildings having a generally vertical fascia board into which the fastening nails can be driven. Many types of buildings, however, have a non-vertical fascia board and, in some cases, no fascia board whatsoever. Thus, for such buildings, it is necessary to specially fabricate supports to which the gutter can be attached.